Electric machines can be used in motor vehicles as so-called starter generators, in order, on one hand, to start the internal combustion engine during motor operation of the electric machine, and, on the other hand, to generate current for the vehicle electrical system and to charge the motor vehicle battery during generator operation of the electric machine. Such electric machines can be connected to the internal combustion engine or the crankshaft via a belt, for example, via the ribbed v-belt of the internal combustion engine (so-called belt-driven starter generators, BSG).
An example method for checking the plausibility of a drive torque applied by an electric machine in a hybrid drive of a motor vehicle is described in DE 10 2009 055 062 A1. In this context, it is checked if the drive torque applied by the electric machine is determined accurately. The method is based on a check as to whether the torque of the electric motor corresponds to the drag torque of the internal combustion engine.